H2416 — חַי (chay)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2416
Original: חַי
Transliteration: chay
Pronunciation: khah
Part of Speech: Adjective; feminine noun; masculine noun
Root: Live/life root family represented by H2421 חָיָה (chayah), "to live"
Occurrences: 449 unique verses (531 tokens) across 29 books
First Occurrence: Gen 1:20 — "the moving creature that hath life"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

-ee; from ; alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively:— age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, merry, multitude, (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
liveth	54	12.0%
living	38	8.5%
of life	33	7.3%
live	31	6.9%
alive	29	6.5%
life	25	5.6%
beast	23	5.1%
of the living	20	4.5%
the beasts	18	4.0%
of his life	16	3.6%
my life	13	2.9%
the living	13	2.9%
other phrases	136	30.3%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Ecclesiastes	16	7.2
Jonah	3	6.2
Zephaniah	3	5.7
Ezekiel	51	4.0
Genesis	56	3.7
Proverbs	34	3.7
Leviticus	27	3.1
Hosea	6	3.0
1 Samuel	24	3.0
2 Samuel	19	2.7
1 Kings	22	2.7
Job	24	2.2
2 Kings	16	2.2
Deuteronomy	19	2.0
Psalms	50	2.0
Jeremiah	23	1.7
Isaiah	17	1.3
other books	54	variable

Genesis/Leviticus emphasize living creatures and life/blood language; historical books often use oath formulas; wisdom literature uses the word for human life, mortality, and "the living."

Semantic Categories¶

1. Living Creatures / Animated Beings¶

Gen 1:20 — "the moving creature that hath life"
Gen 1:24 — "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind"
Gen 1:30 — every beast, fowl, and creeping thing "wherein [there is] life"

2. Life as Human or Animal Vitality¶

Lev 17:11 — "the life of the flesh [is] in the blood"
Lev 17:14 — "the life of all flesh [is] the blood thereof"
Deut 12:23 — "the blood [is] the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh"

3. Being Alive / Remaining Alive¶

Deut 4:4 — those cleaving to YHWH "are alive every one of you this day"
1 Kgs 3:22 — living child contrasted with dead child
Dan 12:2 — resurrection contrast: some awake to everlasting life, some to contempt

4. Oath Formula: "As YHWH Lives"¶

Num 14:21 — "as truly as I live"
1 Kgs 1:29 — "as the LORD liveth"
Jer 4:2 — "The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness"

5. Living Water / Freshness¶

Jer 2:13 — YHWH as "the fountain of living waters"
Zech 14:8 — "living waters shall go out from Jerusalem"

6. Living Animals Rendered as "Beasts"¶

Lev 11:2 — "These [are] the beasts which ye shall eat"
Job 5:22-23 — beasts of the earth in creation-order language
Hos 2:18 — covenant with beasts, fowls, and creeping things

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
כֹּל (kol)	H3605	140x	"all/every living..." universal scope
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	111x	oath formulas and divine life language
אֶרֶץ (erets)	H776	72x	living creatures on earth / living in the land
יוֹם (yom)	H3117	68x	"days of life" / "this day alive"
אֱלֹהִים (elohim)	H430	61x	"living God" and creation contexts
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	61x	living soul/person/life overlap
מוּת (muth)	H4191	37x	life/death contrast

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2421 חָיָה (chayah) — verb: to live, revive, preserve alive.
H2424 חַיּוּת (chayyuth) — life/living creature.
H2417 חַי (chay) — Aramaic cognate, alive/living.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	life, living creature	nephesh often denotes the living self/person; chay marks life/aliveness as adjective or noun.
חָיָה (chayah)	H2421	live, alive	chayah is the verb "to live/revive"; chay is adjective/noun "living/life."
ζωή (zoe)	G2222	life	Primary LXX/NT life noun; bridges strongly from chay.
ζάω (zao)	G2198	live/liveth	Primary Greek verb corresponding to living/being alive.
θηρίον (therion)	G2342	beast	Greek animal term overlaps where chay is rendered as "beast(s)."

Semantic Domain¶

Relationship data places H2416 in several domains: Alive, Strong, Animals, People, and associated life/activity domains. These reflect the word's breadth as adjective, noun, and collective animal term.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
ζωή (zoe) G2222	136	5.37	Primary noun bridge for life.
ζάω (zao) G2198	195	4.66	Primary verb/adjectival bridge for living/alive.
θηρίον (therion) G2342	69	5.12	Animal/beast renderings.
ζῶον (zoon) G2226	14	5.51	Living creature.
ἑρπετόν (herpeton) G2062	19	4.63	Creeping-animal contexts.
θάνατος (thanatos) G2288	31	2.78	Life/death contrast contexts.
ψυχή (psyche) G5590	62	2.29	Soul/life overlap.